Top Intermediate French Mistakes

After learning French for a while, whether in a class or on your own, youve probably found that there are some things you just cant figure out how to say, or that people are always correcting you on. These may be issues that you havent been taught yet  or concepts that youve studied but just dont get. As an intermediate French speaker, there is still plenty of time to fix these mistakes before they fossilize in your mind. Here are ten of the most common intermediate-level French mistakes with links to lessons. French Mistake 1: Y and En Y and en are known as adverbial pronouns — they replace the preposition à   or de plus a noun, respectively. They consistently cause problems for intermediate French speakers, though Im not sure whether this is because they are not adequately taught in French classes, or simply because they are difficult to master. Regardless of the reason for the difficulties, the fact is that both y and en are extremely important in French, so be sure to study this lesson. French Mistake 2: Manquer The French verb manquer (to miss) is a tough one because the word order is the opposite of what you probably expect. For example, I miss you translates not as je te manque but rather tu me manques (literally, you are missing to me.) Once you understand the proper French word order, youll never miss this one again. French Mistake 3: Le Passà © French past tenses are definitely tricky. The passà © composà © vs imparfait issue is a constant struggle until students truly understand each of these tenses and the differences between them. Theres also the matter of the passà © simple, which needs to be understood but not used. Get past this confusion with these lessons. French Mistake 4: Agreement Agreement of adjectives and à ªtre verbs may seem pointless and aggravating, but its part of the French language and needs to be learned. There are several kinds of agreement; the ones intermediate students really need to watch out for are agreement of adjectives with the nouns they modify, and agreement of the past participle of à ªtre verbs with their subjects in the passà © composà © and other compound tenses. French Mistake 5: Faux Amis There are thousands of French words that look a lot like English words, and while many of them are true cognates (i.e., mean the same thing in both languages), a lot of them are false cognates. If you look at the word actuellement and think Aha! Thats the French translation of actually, youre going to make a mistake because it actually means currently. Actuellement and hundreds of other faux amis are explained on my site, so take the time to learn the most common ones and thus avoid common pitfalls. French Mistake 6: Relative Pronouns The French relative pronouns are  qui,  que,  lequel,  dont, and  oà ¹, and depending on context can mean  who,  whom,  that,  which,  whose,  where, or  when. They are difficult for various reasons, including not having standard English equivalents and being required in French but often optional in English. The  pronoun  dont  in particular  causes major problems for French students, so be sure to learn about French relative pronouns. French Mistake 7: Temporal Prepositions Temporal prepositions introduce an amount of time, and the French ones are often confused. There is a correct time to use each of the prepositions  Ãƒ  ,  en,  dans,  depuis,  pendant  and  pour, so take the time to learn the difference. French Mistake 8: Depuis and Il y a Depuis  and  il y a  are both used to describe  time  in the past, but  depuis  means since or for while  il y a  means ago. If you had studied this lesson one year ago (il y a un an), you would have already known how to use these expressions correctly for a year (depuis  un an). Its not too late —  allez-y! French Mistake 9: Ce  Homme French adjectives usually have to agree with the nouns they modify in gender and number, but there are several that have a special form used when they precede a word that begins with a vowel or mute H. For example, to say this man, you might be tempted to say  ce  homme  because  ce  is the masculine demonstrative article. But because French likes to maintain euphony,  ce  changes to  cet  in front of a vowel or mute H:  cet  homme. French Mistake 10: Pronominal Verbs and Reflexive Pronouns Pronominal verbs (including reflexive verbs) cause lots of problems, especially when they are used in the infinitive. You probably know that Im getting up is  je  me là ¨ve, but what about I have to get up or Im going to get up? Should you say  je  dois/vais  me  lever  or  je  dois/vais  se  lever? Look at this lesson for the answer to that question as well as all kinds of other good info about pronominal verbs. High-Intermediate Mistakes High-intermediate means your French is pretty good — you excel in everyday situations, and can even hold your own in long discussions, but there are still some issues that you cant seem to get the hang of, or that you simply dont remember five minutes after looking them up. Reading several explanations of the same issue can help cement understanding of these sticky issues, so here are ten of the most common high-intermediate French mistakes with links to my lessons - maybe this time it will finally make sense. High Intermediate Mistake 1: Se and Soi Se  and  soi  are two of the most commonly misused French pronouns.  Se  is a reflexive pronoun while  soi  is a stressed pronoun, but they are very often mixed up with  le  and  lui, respectively. These lessons will help you understand the difference in order to avoid any confusion.High Intermediate Mistake 2: Encore vs Toujours Because  encore  and  toujours  can both mean yet and still (though they both have several other meanings as well), they are very often confused with one another. Learn how and when to use each of them. High Intermediate Mistake 3: What Trying to figure out how to say what in French can be tricky — should it be  que  or  quoi, or what about  quel? All of these terms have specific uses in French, so the only way to know which one to use when is to understand exactly what each one means. High Intermediate Mistake 4: Ce que, ce qui, ce dont, ce à   quoi Indefinite relative pronouns link relative clauses to  a main  clause when there is no specific antecedent... huh? In other words, when you have a sentence like this is what I want or thats what he told me, the what that links the two clauses has an unknown (indefinite) meaning. French indefinite relative pronouns often — though not always translate as what, so take a look at this lesson for detailed explanations and examples. High Intermediate Mistake 5: Si Clauses Si clauses, also known as conditionals or conditional sentences, have an if clause and a then (result) clause, such as If I have time, (then) I will help you. There are three types of si clauses, and each requires a certain sequence of verb tenses in French, which can cause confusion. The rules, however, are quite simple once you take the time to learn them. High Intermediate Mistake 6: Final Letters French pronunciation is tricky when it comes to final letters. Many words end in silent consonants, but some of those normally silent consonants are pronounced when followed by a word that begins with a vowel or mute H. This is often difficult for French learners, but with study and practice you really can master it, and these lessons are the place to start. High Intermediate Mistake 7: Subjunctive A high-intermediate French speaker is certainly aware of the subjunctive and knows to use it after things like  il  faut  que  and  je  veux  que, but there are probably still some expressions or verbs that youre not sure about. Do you use the subjunctive after  espà ©rer, and what about  il est possible/probable? Take a look at these pages for help with all of your subjunctive questions. High Intermediate Mistake 8: Negation   Obviously, a high-intermediate speaker knows how to use  ne...  pas  and many other negative forms, but there might be a few issues you still find tricky, like  ne  pas  in front of an infinitive,  ne  without  pas, and  pas  without  ne. Whatever your question about negation, youll find answers in these lessons. High Intermediate Mistake 9: Two or More Verbs There are several different types of French verb constructions with two or more verbs: compound moods/tenses (e.g.,  jai  mangà ©), dual verbs (je  veux  manger),  modals  (je  dois  manger), passive voice (il est mangà ©), and the causative construction (je  fais  manger). Many of these do not translate literally from English and thus can be difficult for French students. Your best bet is to review the lesson on each structure to make sure you understand, and then practice whenever you can to remember it. High Intermediate Mistake 10: Word Order Last but not least, word order can be a problem, especially when dealing with negation, various pronouns, and more than one verb all in the same sentence. This is another area where practice makes perfect — review the lessons and then put them to work. Position of object pronouns  Position of adverbs